MicroCapital publishes the MicroCapital Monitor and other products offering specialized news and information on international microfinance. As microfinance is an emerging global industry with a legacy of charity, objective news with a business orientation is scarce. MicroCapital seeks to provide candid information on microfinance as an emerging investment class. MicroCapital is owned and operated by Prisma MicroFinance, Inc.

This paper describes the intangible benefits of microfinance. Essentially this paper 1) Looks at social mobilization, empowerment, stabilization, peace-building and solidarity, through social capital enhancement; 2) It reviews literature and draws lessons from conflicts in nine countries in Asia and the Pacific; 3) Emphasizes microfinance experiments in Afghanistan, Papua New Guinea, Sri Lanka and Timor Leste.

This presentation discusses scaling up issues in microfinance. It states that microfinance can be made available to more number of poor people by increasing the number of service points at which they can utilize financial services.

This issue paper reviews the existing empirical studies on the relevance of agriculture on livelihoods of people and contrasts it with the approach of the local government and aid agencies. The paper also examines how rehabilitation effort and poppy trade has shaped the relationship between aid agencies and the farmers. It concludes by recommending a more pragmatic and principled approach to efforts for agriculture development and its impact on livelihoods

This case study examines how the entry of microcredit into rural and household economies in Afghanistan affects informal credit relations and livelihood outcomes through effects on the overall village economy.

This brief discusses innovative rural finance products that the USAID funded Agriculture Rural Investment and Enterprise Strengthening (ARIES) project in Afghanistan offers to small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

The brief describes the satisfaction expressed by:
1. Abdul, a 33-year-old Afghan, who revived his rickshaw accessories business with a 50,000 Afghani (US $ 1000) Business Murabaha Agreement that he received through ARIES.
2. Shukria, a widow, who received a Women’s Murabaha A more...

In a country where 50 million households live in poverty and have limited access to financial services, self help groups (SHGs) are servicing more than 33 million members and have become the dominant model of microfinance.
CGAP's new two-part study examines the financial viability of SHGs in India and proposes a methodology for designing SHG programs to ensure their sustainability. Nine strong SHG programs demonstrate the potential of the model when it is well executed.

This study uses CGAP’s Poverty Assessment Tool (PAT) to examine the poverty levels of clients reached by savings banks worldwide.

The study chose four savings banks across four countries (India, Mexico, Tanzania and Thailand) that represented all major strands of the membership of WSBI to assess:
• Exactly how many poor customers the savings banks reach;
• Whether their poor customers use the services on offer any differently than do better off customers.

Srijan is India's only microfinance business plan competition. Srijan 2008 award ceremony saw finalists presenting their businesses and panel discussions on cutting edge microfinance issues.

Grameen Foundation has launched www.progressoutofpoverty.org, a website that demonstrates how microfinance institutions (MFIs) can understand and improve their social performance. The website features information and resources about the Progress out of Poverty Index™ (PPI™), a poverty assessment tool that helps MFIs measure the poverty levels of their clients. The PPI was commissioned by Grameen Foundation in collaboration with the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) and the Ford Fo more...